Sentinels of Ahmedabad’s history

AHMEDABAD: What would Ahmedabad be without its legendary walls? There would not have been a Walled City to start with – something that made it India’s first UNESCO World Heritage City. There would have been no Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation – as the municipality has its roots in the ‘Town Wall Fund Committee’ formed in April 1831 to repair the dilapidated walls after a major flood in Sabarmati River. And there would not have been development of western city parts which Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel initiated to ease the pressure on the overpopulated neighbourhoods in today’s Ellisbridge area. The 11km long walls had observed the Gujarat Sultanate taking root, political and social upheavals and a succession of rulers ranging from Mughals and Marathas to the British. The historic walls have given way to development of the city and have been reduced to less than 3km. Robert D Stephens, a Mumbai-based American architect and aerial photographer, tries to put the military structure in perspective through his exhibition ‘Ahmedabad Walls’. Stephens not only dug up old archives to find gems in terms of correspondence and maps for the exhibition at Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum, but has also displayed some of the most fascinating aerial shots he clicked from commercial flights during his travels. The exhibition throws light on the relatively unknown chapter of Scottish polymath Patrick Geddes visiting Ahmedabad in 1915 and submitting his report to the British government, advocating retention of the wall. Geddes, considered to be a pioneer in modern town planning, had given the plan for Tel Aviv and had worked on a number of cities in the UK and Indian subcontinent. Geddes was also a biologist, sociologist and geographer. "During my research for a book in Mumbai, I came across the correspondence by Geddes. I have been working in Ahmedabad for past four years and thus I got interested when the correspondence mentioned his visit and his impression of the city in ‘Notes on Ahmedabad’ which was found in Maharashtra State Archives," said Stephens, adding that like many visitors, he was also enamoured by the old city that boasts 600 years of history – something rare in countries like the US. Jayshree Lalbhai, trustee of KL Museum, said that the exhibition would help citizens appreciate their heritage and motivate them for its conservation. How Geddes saw Ahmedabad’s walls The site of the amphitheatre and Sabarmati Riverfront development today, the Khanjahan Gate near Jamalpur caught interest of the town planner who found it a ‘place of great beauty and interest – a range of informal and varied landscape, of ghats, tombs and temples - natural riverfront and wild wood mingled with half-ordered river parkway, which makes this, towards sunset especially, the most striking excursion from the city.’ He mentions the presence of an old Guard House of Barrack near Astodia Darwaja which was used as Leper Colony. He was fascinated by Kankaria Lake and compared it with Teppakulam (sic) tank at Madurai, terming the lake as one of the very finest water parks in the world with slight tweaking. He also mentioned a cholera hospital in its vicinity. He suggested converting some part of the wall as a walkway or ‘sentinel’s walk.’ Ending his note, he mentioned that the walls might belong to the government but ‘in a deeper sense they belong to the tradition of the whole community life - past, present and to come.’

‘Demolition would be vandalism’The primary reason for which the British involved Geddes was to get his opinion on the city walls. Geddes visited Ahmedabad in November 1914 and April 1915 and toured the entire periphery of the city, examining not only the walls but also the areas around it. In his note, he lauded the city for ‘distinguished and historic architecture’ and mentioned that the dilemma over retaining the ancient walls had also cropped up in European cities. But as a town planner, Geddes’ keen eyes were finding ways to conserve the walls as much as possible. While describing the Astodia Darwaza and nearby areas, he wrote, ‘This military wall with its battlementing like that of the city wall harmonises with it and gives it and its bastions a fuller dignity and scale… Demolition here would be vandalism for to throw away this background of rich red walls, waste of beauty brought about by extravagant labour and expense.’

His views, however, were not shared by many of the British officers, especially AE Mirams, consulting surveyor of the Government of Bombay, who was in favour of razing the walls for developing wider roads in Ahmedabad. One of the letters found by Stephens was written by Ahmedabad resident Manilal Bhatt in 1922 that describes the resistance against Mirams’ plans for the city. In next two decades, majority portion of the city walls were gone as the city started expanding in both western and eastern directions.